BMW i3 generally gets good reviews and feedback from owners. The EV is pretty comfortable for city driving and delivers good range. However, some owners have had to deal with the “Unable to Charge” message.
In most cases, this happens when the 12V battery has issues. Also, the “Unable to Charge” warning can pop up in your i3 when there are issues with the charging port, battery controllers, software, or the charger.
I know you all hope this is the charger, not your car, but unfortunately, this is not the most common reason for the problem.
What does a BMW dealer say?
Prior to writing this article, I called a dealership and explained that I needed information on this message. They put me through to their mechanic, and he listened to everything carefully and then said literally the following: “There are multiple causes for this, you will need to bring the vehicle to the dealership”.
OK, BMW, thank you, but I will try to dig deeper into the problem.
By the way, similar experience I had with another article about Volkswagen EVs – you may want to have a look at it.
The possible reasons for “Unable to Charge”
Now that you know the dealer will want to earn money and at least charge you several hundred pounds for diagnostics and “software updates”, let’s see what actually can cause this problem. Please note that this article tells you about the EV version of the i3, not the PHEV.
1) 12V battery failure
A lot of i3 owners reported this message to pop up after they left their lights or something else on in the car for the night. The 12V battery wasn’t just low, it was destroyed and degraded during this time, so they couldn’t even open the charging port.
Even if you open this port with a special manual strap, there is no way the car will charge the 12V battery. So, you will need a special charger. I will tell you about the proper charging later.
Also, the battery may just be old (over 4 years, usually) and it can fail to deliver the proper voltage to the system. This affects the HV (high-voltage) battery control module and the charging process can’t start.
2) The charging port issues
The charger lock may malfunction in earlier models of the i3. It means that the charger will not be plugged in properly. It may start charging the vehicle but after several minutes the plug will move a couple of millimeters and the car will throw the “Unable to Charge” message due to poor contact.
This is a serious problem and you should go to a good garage or to the dealership to have the port replaced. This is not cheap, I should say.
3) HV battery control module
There are several control modules in your BMW i3 that control the charging process and the battery condition. If they fail, the charging process is impossible to start. The error message will pop up every time you are plugging the charger but the car may still be operational if the HV battery has some juice in it.
You will need a good scanner to find the problem. Or you may try the reset method that I will tell you about later.
4) The 12V battery is not registered
This is not a necessary step, in most cases, but sometimes the i3 may require battery programming after it’s disconnected or replaced. So, if the error message (actually, any error message) popped up after the 12V battery replacement, you may conclude this is the reason.
5) Charger problem
It’s not uncommon for your home charger to go bad. Also, commercial chargers, especially older ones are very often malfunctioning causing this nasty “Unable to Charge” message.
Usually, it’s enough to try another charger or just another charging mode to see if the problem is with the car. A lot of charger types will start charging your BMW i3 and do this for 5-6 minutes and then will stop charging and throw this error message.
If this is the case, try some other way to charge your vehicle.
What can you try doing?
Before you drive to the dealership and pay for the inspection, I suggest you take several steps that will help you better understand the problem or even solve it without any professional help.
I should warn you that BMW vehicles are made with the manufacturer’s revenue in mind, so you may still need to go to the dealership for some help but at least you won’t pay hundreds of pounds/euros/dollars just for error scanning.
Here are my suggestions:
1) Try disconnecting the 12V battery
This may help you in case some electronic module just has a glitch. After resetting, this block may be back to life and the car will start charging.
2) Recharge the 12V battery with a proper charger
For this, you will need to disconnect the battery and connect a good charger to it. Leave it for several hours to let it fully compensate for the losses. If the battery is older than 4 years, you may want to replace it with the new one.
3) Try another charger
It’s quite possible that your home charger or the commercial charging station that you are now using aren’t working properly. Try something else and see if the problem persists. Maybe, the problem is not with your car.
4) Use an available scanner to see the codes and errors
The BMW i3 can’t be scanned with any cheap scanner – it needs an appropriate tool. But the price of such tools online is still cheaper than 10-15 minutes of labor in the dealership. So, it’s worth having such a tool in your possession.
So, scan for codes and google them to see what you can do. Also, you may clear the codes and see if now everything works.
5) Go to the garage or dealership
Now, if nothing helps, you may want to go to the dealership before the vehicle lost its last charge. Otherwise, you will need to pay for a tow truck which will increase the costs.
Can you drive with the “Unable to Charge” message?
You can drive if the 12V battery and the HV battery are OK. If one of them is empty, you will not be able to start and drive your BMW i3. Of course, I’m talking about the EV, not the Plug-In Hybrid. If you have the PHEV version, you can drive using the petrol engine.
So, if you see the “Unable to Charge” message and the high-voltage battery is empty, you have two options: pushing your car to the nearest charger to try your luck or calling a tow truck.
How long do batteries live in the BMW i3?
When it comes to small 12V batteries, they usually last about 3-4 years and then till your luck lets them too. They are recharged when you drive the car using the power of the high-voltage battery. Usually, after 4 years of use, you should replace them to avoid poor experience like the car not starting.
The high-voltage battery in these vehicles is the Li-Ion battery which has about 4500 cycles. So, it can last about 400,000 miles (600,000 kilometers) or 12-15 years. But you should know that after crossing about 150,000 miles or 220,000 kilometers the battery performance will significantly drop and keep dropping after that.
I’ve also written about a similar problem with Tesla cars when it says Vehicle May Not Restart. You may want to have a look.
I hope this post helps you solve the problem with the “Unable to Charge” message in your BMW EV. I would appreciate any feedback or more insights from you in the comments section below!
